Anime/Manga News (10/25/13)

Halloween is just 6 days away(at the time of this thread) and I would just like to everyone have a happy halloween and have fun trick or treating or fucking with people. ---

Anime News

New Kuroko's Basketball Threat: Chemicals in Snacks The Sankei Shimbun newspaper is reporting on Thursday that the 7-Eleven convenience store chain and other companies, including Sankei Shimbun, have received new threat letters that said that the sender has put agricultural chemicals in various Kuroko's Basketball confectionery snacks in a 7-Eleven store in Chiba Prefecture.

The letter featured a title that read, "Urgent Statement," and said that the sender had put chemicals into the snacks. At stores in Tokyo and in Saitama Prefecture, other letters read that the sender put rice vinegar in curry pouches and spaghetti sauce packages. Store staff have yet to find any packages with holes or other abnormalities.

On October 15, Sankei Shimbun, Sophia University, 7-Eleven, and several other convenience store companies received threat letters. The letters had claimed that the suspect had poisoned some of the "Voi-Colle Kuroko's Basketball Wafers 2" cookies in 7-Eleven stores, and also said that "X-Day" would be on the final day of Sophia University's school festival. 7-Eleven will continue to keep the wafers removed from stores until "X-Day," which will be on November 4. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is currently searching for the suspect.

A few days later, convenience store chain Family Mart stopped selling the "Ichiban Kuji Kuroko no Basuke ~Seirin & Kaijō~" lottery merchandise line due to a poison threat. The Circle K Sunkus store chain is also considering suspending sales of the merchandise. Banpresto had planned to sell the Ichiban Kuji products line near the end of October. The line would have included character dolls and plush toys as well as other products. Last December, Banpresto had delayed the start of a previous Ichiban Kuji line for the Kuroko's Basketball franchise, and it was postponed until mid-January.

Relatedly, the news organization J-Cast reported on Wednesday that the editorial department and the editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine Tsukuru received threat letters on October 22. J-Cast also reported that NHK and Kyodo News received the October 15 threat letters in addition to Sankei Shimbun. Tsukuru plans to publish information and updates about the incident from now on. The magazine, which is known for its commentary on mass media, had published an article in April featuring Nobuo Sumino, the head of Shueisha's comics and contents sales department, stating that the second season of the Kuroko's Basketball television anime series would premiere in September. ---

Little Busters! Anime's English Dub Cast Announced

North American anime licensing company Sentai Filmworks announced the cast for the English dub of the Little Busters! anime on Wednesday.

Riki Naoe Shannon Emerick

Rin Natusme Brittney Karbowski

Kyosuke Natsume Blake Shepard

Masato Inohara Greg Ayres

Kengo Miyazawa Leraldo Anzaldua

Komari Kamikita Tia Ballard

Haruka Saigusa Margaret McDonald

Kudryavka Noumi Tiffany Grant

Yuiko Kurugaya Carli Mosier

Mio Nishizono Caitlynn French

Additional Voices Christopher Ayres

Krystal LaPorte

Beth Lazarou

Connor Leach

Brent Marshall

Genevieve Simmons

Juliet Simmons

John Swasey

Allison Sumrall

Tiffany Terrell

Chris Ayres is directing the English dub. Sentai Filmworks will release the series on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on November 19.

Sentai Filmworks describes the story:

When tragedy struck Riki Naoe as a child, he was rescued from grief over his parent's deaths when four other kids "recruited" him for their group, the "Little Busters!." Now in high school, Riki and the other Busters are still fast friends, and though their vision of being heroes for justice may have faded, they'd still do anything for each other - which is why Riki is now on TWO special missions.
The not-so-secret one: recruiting new members so the Busters can form a baseball team. Preferably female recruits, as the current dude/babe ratio is an inconvenient 4 to 1. The other mission, though, that's the strange one. Riki and Rin, the group's singular girl, are receiving odd messages delivered by cats concerning the existence of a "secret world" and assigning them tasks they have to complete. Were their youthful dreams of being crusaders not so fanciful after all? Or is there something even more vital at stake?---

Hayao Miyazaki, Attack on Titan, Garden of Words Win Anime Kobe AwardsThe judging committee of the 18th Animation Kobe Awards announced this year's award winners on Friday. The awards are among the most prestigious industry accolades in Japanese animation and media.

The 18th Annual Animation Kobe event will hold an awards ceremony on December 8 in the city of Kobe in western Japan. The judging committee is composed of experts in the industry — notably the editors of animation and media magazines such as Animage, Newtype and Weekly ASCII.

AnimEigo founder Robert J. Woodhead started a Kickstarter funding campaign for a North American Blu-ray Disc release of Bubblegum Crisis on Friday.

The campaign would aim to release an "Ultimate Edition" of the eight-episode Bubblegum Crisis original video anime series. The basic goal would start at US$75,000 and include includes the series itself, the HD-recut Hurricane Live 2032/2033 Bubblegum Crisis animated music videos, and the upconverted live-action music video "The Holiday in Bali" on two region-free BD50 Blu-Ray discs. The package will bundle five postcards from MegaTokyo and a custom Commemorative Challenge Coin with supporter-assisted designs.

Supporters — regardless if they buy the set — can access "a downloadable Omake (Extras) Archive that will contain all the static bonus materials we have, including program notes, song lyrics, translated interviews with the original creators, and high-resolution color artwork and line-art (settei)" in both HTML and PDF formats. Supporters at the $10 level or higher will also receive the five Megatokyo postcards. Other pledge levels include "Night Night Knight Sabers" Satin Pillowcase, set of Metal Figures, Nene garage kit, original production cels, Boomer+AD Police model, and MotoSlave models with riders, but most have already been taken.

AnimEigo cannot ship the product to Japan, the People's Republic of China, or Taiwan.

The campaign still leaves open the possibility of bundling AD Police "if the budget allows it (a new HD telecine transfer will be needed)," but not the Bubblegum Crash anime series "at this time."

AnimEigo released Bubblegum Crisis in a DVD box set in 2004 and on remastered single DVDs in 2005.

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Monogatari 2nd Season's Onimonogatari 2nd Promo Streamed
The official website for the Monogatari Series Second Season anime began streaming the second promotional video for the anime of NisiOisin's Onimonogatari book on Friday.

In the promotional video, the main character Koyomi Araragi (as voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya) says that he will tell the story of Shinobu Oshino, a mysterious little girl who came to Japan 400 years ago. Shinobu was originally a vampire named Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade. Maaya Sakamoto voices the girl. Hachikuji (voiced by Emiri Katō) insists to Araragi that she did not want to come back to life, and tells him that his actions were in vain. Shinobu also tells Araragi that the darkness that has appeared is one that she had seen 400 years ago, and at worst, it could destroy Araragi's entire town.

The Onimonogatari anime will premiere on Saturday.

Tomoyuki Itamura is directing Onimonogatari, while Akiyuki Shinbo is acting as chief director and series script supervisor along with Fuyashi Tou. Akio Watanabe is designing the characters based on VOFAN's original novel illustrations. Watanabe, Nobuhiro Sugiyama, and Taisuke Iwasaki are also serving as chief animation directors at SHAFT. Satoru Kousaki is handling the music. The cast remains unchanged from Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari.

The "second season" arc of the Monogatari series is covering the material from five volumes of the original light novel series in two cours or half a year.

The series premiered in Japan in July, and Daisuki and Crunchyroll are streaming the series outside of Japan. Aniplex of America announced in June that it has acquired the rights to both Nekomonogatari (Black) and Monogatari Series Second Season.---

Ghibli's New Tale of Princess Kaguya Trailer Aired

The morning television program Zip! and other NTV shows aired an uncut one-minute version of the newest trailer for Kaguya-hime no Monogatari (The Tale of Princess Kaguya), the latest film from Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, on Wednesday.

The famous Japanese folktale Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) centers on princess named Kaguya who was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. Taketori Monogatari has inspired dozens of manga and anime stories, such as Reiko Shimizu's Kaguya Hime and Arina Tanemura's Sakura-Hime Kaden.

Aki Asakura will lead the cast as Kaguya, and Takeo Chii, who passed away in June of last year, will still play the role of Okina (Old Man), as he had recorded his part before his death. Kengo Kora and Nobuko Miyamoto round out the main cast as as Sutemaru and Ouna (Old Woman), respectively. Other cast members include Atsuko Takahata, Tomoko Tabata, Tatekawa Shinosuke, Takaya Kamikawa, Hikaru Ijūin, Ryudo Uzaki, Nakamura Shichinosuke, Isao Hashizume, Yukiji Asa.oka, and Tatsuya Nakadai.

Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday, Pom Poko) revealed in 2009 that his next film will be based on the folktale. The tagline for the film reads, "A princess's crime and punishment."

Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) is composing the film's soundtrack. Takahata conceived the story and co-wrote the screenplay with Riko Sakaguchi. This will be Takahata's first film since My Neighbors the Yamadas about 14 years ago.

The film will open on November 23. ---

Sora no Otoshimono/Heaven's Lost Property's New Anime to Play in Theaters in 2014

The December issue of Kadokawa's Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine is announcing on Saturday that the brand new anime based on Suu Minazuki's Sora no Otoshimono (Heaven's Lost Property) manga will play in theaters next year. The magazine adds that the new anime is reuniting the original staff from the first anime season. The magazine had announced in January 2012 that a third anime season was green-lit, but now says that this new anime will be a theatrical film release instead.

The original manga has been running in Monthly Shōnen Ace since 2007, and Kadokawa is publishing the 18th compiled book volume on October 25. The two previous television anime seasons and film follow a boy whose life changes after an angel falls from the skies. Crunchyroll streamed both of these television seasons outside Japan, and Funimation licensed both television anime seasons and the film for North America.---

Dokidoki! Precure Head Writer: Anime Will Be 49 Episodes Long

Ryota Yamaguchi, the series script supervisor for the Dokidoki! Precure television anime, reported on Twitter on Tuesday that the anime will have 49 episodes. Nikkan Sports' Precure Shimbun paper had written in an interview with producer Hiroaki Shibata this week that the anime is heading towards its final episode at the end of the year. Yamaguchi wrote in response:

I don't know where the rumors spread from, but Dokidoki! Precure is 49 episodes (It's already been written, down to the final episode!). The episode the other day was episode 37. There will be a hiatus on November 3, and another one at the end of this year or the beginning of the next, but the broadcast is scheduled to run all the way through January.
Dokidoki! Precure, the 10th Precure television anime, series premiered on ABC, TV Asahi, and other Japanese stations in February. Eiga Dokidoki! Precure Mana Kekkon!!? Mirai ni Tsunagu Kibō no Dress (Dokidoki! Precure the Movie: Mana's Getting Married!!? The Dress of Hope Linked to the Future), the anime's feature film, will open in Japan on Saturday. The previous Precure television series have each had 48 to 50 episodes.

Update: Nikkan Sports confirmed that the issue misprinted "at the end of the year" when it should have printed "at the end of next January." It added that the current series will end at the end of next January, while the new series will premiere next February. ---

Ghost in the Shell Arise 2nd Episode's Trailer Posted

The official website for the Ghost in the Shell Arise anime project and the PlayStation YouTube channel began streaming the theatrical trailer for the second installment on Saturday. The second episode, titled "border:2 Ghost Whispers," will open in theaters in Japan on November 30. The trailer features part of the episode's ending theme song "Soto wa Senjō da yo" by Ichiko Aoba and Cornelius with lyrics by Shintarō Sakamoto.

The story of "border:2 Ghost Whispers" takes place after Motoko gains her freedom by separating herself from the military's 501st Secret Unit. Even without Aramaki's suggestion to make her own unit, Motoko begins assembling members. As this is going on, someone has hacked into the Logicoma. As she transports the machines in order to check them for abnormalities, she is suddenly attacked by an armed unit. Not long after, she meets up with Batou, the man with the "eye that never sleeps," Ishikawa, a former member of the army who is good at finding information through the Internet, and Borma, an electronic warfare expert.

The new installment will bring back most the cast from the first installment, with Ishikawa (played by the late Tomoyuki Dan), Saito, and Borma making their first appearance:

Maaya Sakamoto as Motoko Kusanagi

Ikkyuu Juku as Daisuke Aramaki

Kenichirou Matsuda as Batou

Tomoyuki Dan as Ishikawa

Takurou Nakakuni as Saito

Youji Ueda as Paz

Kazuya Nakai as Borma

Miyuki Sawashiro as Logicoma

The Blu-ray Disc and DVD for the episode will go on sale at theaters on November 30, and then ship from regular retailers on December 25.

The first of four 50-minute parts from the anime series premiered in Japanese theaters in June, and shipped on Blu-ray Disc and DVD at retail on July 26. The Blu-ray for the first episode was sold in advance at Japanese theaters when the Ghost Pain installment debuted in June. Kazuchika Kise (chief animation director for Otogi Zoshi, Blood-C: The Last Dark) is directing the series and designing the characters, and Tow Ubukata (Le Chevalier D'Eon, Mardock Scramble) is supervising and writing the scripts. Production I.G is producing the series, and Cornelius (Appleseed: Ex Machina) is composing the music.

Funimation licensed the anime and released the first episode in a special imported edition earlier this month. The company plans to screen the first two episodes in a limited theatrical run later this year. The company is also offering the special-edition release prior to its typical English-language home video release.---

3rd Madoka Magica Film's New Footage Debuts on Japanese TV

Fuji TV's morning program Mezamashi Terebi aired a new feature on Gekijō-ban Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magica Shinpen: Hangyaku no Monogatari (Madoka Magica The Movie -Rebellion-) on Friday. The program premiered still more new footage from the upcoming third Madoka Magica film.
The program notes that 51 of 129 participating theaters are holding midnight screenings on Saturday. The program also notes that a new magical girl named Nagisa Momoe appears:

After giving a short briefing about Madoka Magica's storyline so far, Mezamashi Terebi introduces Chiwa Saito as the voice of Homura Akemi. Saito talks about her own adolescence, in which she thought deeply about big hypothetical events such as "the end of the world" — only to appear years later in Madoka Magica, a show that actually depicts such an event.

Next, Mezamashi Terebi showed the Puella Magi Madoka Magica Orchestral Concert that was held in Tokyo, particularly a performance of "magia." The program introduces music producer Yuki Kajiura, best known outside anime and game circles as the composer for Takeshi Kitano's Achilles and the Tortoise film.

Kajiura talked about the eerie fear that prevades this work, unlike the previous works she composed. She also acknowledged that one of her composing traits is using words without any meaning as lyrics — to stir people's imaginations when they listen. Mezamashi Terebi played a sample of "Credens justitiam" as an example.

Finally, the program aired exclusive new footage from the third film, with the teaser "What happened to the girls in the new world that Madoka created? Homura is the only one who harbors memories of the world before. Magical girl vs magical girl." Saito describes the new film as one that will split people's opinions completely one way or another. Kajiura says she was "astonished" by the film.

The film will play in the United States and Canada with English subtitles starting December 6. In addition, there will be a Hollywood premiere event at the Egyptian Theater on December 3, although it is now sold out.

Akiyuki Shinbo and Yukihiro Miyamoto are directing the film at SHAFT with original character designs from manga creator Ume Aoki (Hidamari Sketch). Yuki Kajiura will be providing the music, while musical units ClariS and Kalafina will perform the movie's opening theme and ending theme ("Kimi no Gin no Niwa" or Your Silver Garden), respectively.

The main cast will be returning from the television series and previous two films, with Aoi Yūki as Madoka Kaname, Chiwa Saito as Homura Akemi, Eri Kitamura as Sayaka Miki, Kaori Mizuhashi as Mami Tomoe, Ai Nonaka as Kyōko Sakura, and Emiri Katō as Kyubey. Kana Asumi joins the cast as the new magical girl Nagisa Momoe. There is also a new enemy named Nightmare who is not a witch.

The third film will open in Japan on October 26. Aniplex announced at Japan Expo in Paris that the film will debut in France in November. Aniplex aims to release the third film in still more countries worldwide, just as it did for the first two films.

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Z/X Ignition Anime's 1st Promo Streamed

Pony Canyon began streaming the first promotional video for Z/X Ignition, the anime adaptation of Nippon Ichi Software's trading card game Z/X Zillions of enemy X (ZX is pronounced as Zex), on Thursday. The video introduces the images of the characters, and also informs viewers of the voice cast.

The official website for the anime also revealed four new cast members for the anime:

The story is set in the not-so-distant future. Five "Black Points" suddenly appeared around the world as portals to parallel worlds. Immediately after, strange creatures began their invasion from these portals. These creatures are the inhabitants of five worlds — the same worlds in different timeframes. In order to ensure their own future timeframe survives, each of the five invasion forces battle to wipe the other future timeframes out. The key is one card-shaped device.

The game advertises itself as the "first free" trading card game system since a free deck is offered at meets held by card shops and events. A PDF file is even posted online so people can print them out themselves. The card game has also been adapted into a PlayStation 3 game and a manga series.

The anime will premiere on Japanese television in January. ---

Manga/Gaming News

+Tic Elder Sister Manga Returns After 7-Month Hiatus

This year's 21st issue of Square Enix's Young Gangan magazine published a new chapter of Cha Kurii's +Tic Elder Sister manga after a seven-month hiatus on Friday. The series was adapted into a 12-episode original net anime in 2011. ---

Mushishi Manga Returns With 2-Chapter Special, 'Secret' Project

The December issue of Kodansha's Afternoon magazine is announcing on Friday that Yuki Urushibara's Mushishi manga will be returning to the magazine for a two-chapter special in its January and February issues. Those two issues will ship in Japan on November 25 and December 25, respectively. The announcement also tells readers that there is a new “top secret project” in the works, and tells readers to pay attention to the wraparound jacket band that will go around the upcoming deluxe keepsake edition volumes of the original manga.

The keepsake edition of the original manga is scheduled to begin printing in Japan next month, with the first two volumes shipping on November 21. The third keepsake edition volume will be released on December 20.

Urushibara's manga began in 1995, and finished in Afternoon in 2008. Del Rey published the the manga, and Funimation released Hiroshi Nagahama and Artland's anime adaptation and Katsuhiro Otomo's live-action film version in North America. ---

The official website for Kadokawa's web manga site Famitsu Comic Clear published the final chapter of Hajime Tōya's manga adaptation of Spike Chunsoft's Danganronpa Kibō no Gakuen to Zetsubō no Kōkōsei video game on Friday. The final chapter adapts the final chapter of the game.

The story follows a group of high school students, each with a different exceptional talent, who are locked inside a school and told that the only way to escape is to kill another student without getting caught. After a murder, the remaining students must hold a trial with their lives on the line to find out who the killer is.

Tōya began serializing the manga in the online manga website in 2010 and Kadokawa shipped the third volume in Japan in Sepmteber. Another adaptation of the franchise, the Danganronpa Kibō no Gakuen to Zetsubō no Kōkōsei The Animation manga, is currently running in Kadokawa's Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine.

Danganronpa The Animation premiered in July, and Funimation streamed the series as it aired. ---

Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z Game's 15-Second TV Ad Streamed

Namco Bandai Games began streaming a 15-second television commercial for its Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z game on Wednesday. The commercial highlights the chance to make the "strongest dream team" (of four different forms of Son Goku from regular to Super Saiyan God) and cooperative multi-player with up to four players.

The Z Warriors' battles head to a new stage in this game "anticipated by all of humankind," and is the first brand-new Dragon Ball Z game in two years.

Four friends can fight side-by-side around the world online, and up to eight different players can fight each other in a massive battle royale. Players can unleash joint attacks with other players with "Syncro Rush," launch "Meteor Chain" attacks, and boost each other's health via "Revive Soul."

Players can also form "dream teams" such as the "ultimate Son Goku team" above or a team of all forms of Frieza. Players can take on colossal bosses in 360° all-range battles. The game has 60 exclusive missions and over 70 different playable fighter characters, including the God of Destruction Birus and his companion Uis from this year's Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods film.

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions will cost 7,480 yen (about US$76) in Japan, while the PS Vita version will cost 6,480 yen (US$66). The first copies of the game will include a product download code for Naruto Uzumaki's "Sennin Mode" costume for Son Goku. The video also promotes J-World Tokyo, the Tokyo indoor theme park for Shonen Jump characters.

The "team melee action" game will debut on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PS Vita in Japan on January 23, 2014. The game will then ship in North America for PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox 360 in early 2014. Namco Bandai Games has confirmed that the game will also be released in Europe, Latin America, and Brazil. The PS3 and XBox 360 versions will be available in retail in North America, while the PS Vita version will be download only. ---

Gundam Extreme Vs. Full Boost Game Slated for Japan on January 30

Kadokawa's Weekly Famitsu magazine is announcing on Thursday that Namco Bandai Games will release its Gundam Extreme Vs. Full Boost game for PlayStation 3 in Japan on January 30, 2014. The latest game in the Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. franchise has a new total of over 90 playable mobile suits — the highest ever for the franchise. The next game after Full Boost is in development for arcades. ---

Tales of Symphonia Chronicles Slated for U.S. on February 25

Namco Bandai Games confirmed that the English release of Tales of Symphonia Chronicles (Tales of Symphonia Unisont Pack) will be released in North America on Feburary 25, 2014.

The North American release will include a collector's edition that will bundle a soundtrack, four figurines (Lloyd, Collette, Emil, Marta), a light novel based on the game, and an art box. The edition will retail for US$99.95 and limited to 15,000.

Tales of Symphonia Chronicles is the PlayStation 3 remaster of the Tales of Symphonia and the Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World games. The remastered game shipped in Japan on October 10. ---

I like the idea of weekly news but all you are doing is copying and pasting anime news network and replacing it with a bad font and color. Are all cocksuckers forced to write terrible looking posts? I've noticed a few times with other cock suckers doing the same thing the whole "Every Letter At The Beginning Of The Word Must Be Capped Because I'm A Faggot" thing. It's annoying as hell.

I like the idea of weekly news but all you are doing is copying and pasting anime news network and replacing it with a bad font and color. Are all cocksuckers forced to write terrible looking posts? I've noticed a few times with other cock suckers doing the same thing the whole "Every Letter At The Beginning Of The Word Must Be Capped Because I'm A Faggot" thing. It's annoying as hell.

Yeah I know it's annoying since CS has that automatically happening when they submit a post, also I gather all this crap from around the web and from twitter accounts/fb accounts of directors,companies,etc. But yes ANN is one of them.

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